Santa Monica-based X-Doria offers a full line of cases, screen protectors, chargers and cables for iOS, and Galaxy devices. But the company has decided to branch away from its bread and butter and delve into the wearable fitness tech sphere. Fitness tech has finally become affordable and accessible for the average consumer, and you can bet that everyone ranging from Apple to Nike has either already pounced or are preparing to do so. But X-Doria has taken the road less traveled, forgoing the super-fitness-savvy in favor of a more unlikely target: children.
The company might have come up with a clever way to get kids away from the many time- and energy-draining screens that distract us at all times in today’s tech-saturated world. Enter the KidFit, a wireless activity- and sleep-tracker geared toward children ages 5 to 13. X-Doria’s decision to design the device in the form of a slap bracelet makes it immediately attractive to younger crowds — it’s both a toy and a fashion statement that could potentially make running around outside cool again. And, instead of loading the KidFit with tons of statistics and numbers that would only serve to confuse kids and discourage further use, X-Doria has simplified the process by gamifying it: at the end of the day, you’ve either met the pre-determined goal (set by a parent, guardian, etc.) or you haven’t. Win or lose.
By tracking activity during the day and sleep at night, KidFit is billed as an all-encompassing approach to fitness tracking.
You begin by using the iOS or Android app (which syncs via Bluetooth with the band) to set any number of daily or weekly goals. Both activity markers and time frames are entirely customizable, e.g. “walk 20 miles in one week.” And yes, you can have all nine of your children and their KidFits loaded up and ready for tracking on one device, using the same app.
Now, it appears that the child doesn’t actually see the individual goals. All they see is their progress on a point continuum from zero to 100, 100 being total completion of all goals. These goals and timeframes can be changed on the fly, meaning you can gradually increase what is expected of your little superhero. Of course, you’ll be able to track progress over greater and greater periods of time as the collected data stacks up.
KidFit goes on sale next month, but there are currently 1,000 initial models available for a $40 preorder, $10 less than the bracelet will cost when it officially ships on August 15. Be sure to check out the video below to learn more.
